Mathilda May (born Karin Haïm; 8 February 1965) is a French film actress and director. Her best-known roles include Space Girl in Lifeforce (1985) and Jeanne Gardella in Toutes peines confondues (1992).
May's film work is primarily in French and made for the European market. She was the recipient of the César Award for Most Promising Actress in 1988 for her role in Le Cri du Hibou (The Cry of the Owl) and the Romy Schneider Prize for best up and coming actress in 1989. In 1992, she also recorded an album called Joy of Love. May was the writer and director for the theater show Open Space, which ran from 2013 to 2015.
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Early life
May was born in Paris, France. Her father, the playwright, screenwriter, and actor Victor Haïm, is of Sephardic Jewish (Greek and Turkish) descent. Her mother is the Swedish ballet teacher and choreographer Margareta Hanson. May studied under Christiane Vaussard at the Conservatoire de Paris, graduating at age 16.
Career
May's film work is primarily in French and made for the European market. She was the recipient of the César Award for Most Promising Actress in 1988 and the Prix Romy Schneider in 1989. Non-French films she has appeared in include Naked Tango (1990), Becoming Colette (1991), and The Tit and the Moon (1994). In the United States, she is best known for her role as an alien vampire in the Tobe Hooper science fiction horror film Lifeforce (1985), in which she is nude for much of her performance. May was 18 during production, and the extensive nudity required for the role presented difficulties during filming. She also appeared in the 1996 space adventure game Privateer 2: The Darkening. She played Isabella in The Jackal, a 1997 action film.
